Materials & Recycling

Northeastern’s multi-stream recycling program is an effective approach to divert recyclables from disposal  by ensuring recycled materials are correctly sorted and free of contamination. Learn more about what can and can’t be recycled: 

Glass Bottles & Jars
All glass bottles and jars can be recycled. Glass containers should be emptied and rinsed or wiped clean of food residue, with the lid placed back on the jar. Paper labels can remain on containers.

Please note that other types of household glass such as candle jars, vases, drinking glasses, or picture frame glass can not be recycled in our program. 

Food & Beverage Cans
All metal food and beverage cans can be recycled, along with aluminum foil and disposable aluminum pans.  Items should be emptied and rinsed or wiped clean of food residue. Metal lids can be placed inside cans with the can gently crimped to keep the lid inside. Paper labels can remain on cans.  

Plastic Containers
Forget what you learned about the recycling triangles (and plastic resin codes), and focus on the shape of the container! Plastic containers that are in the form of bottles, jars, jugs, or tubs can be recycled.  All items should be emptied and rinsed or wiped clean of food residue, and the lid should be put back on the container.

Please note that clear plastic cups can be recycled with containers, but all liquid/ice should be poured out and the lid/straw removed and disposed.

Mixed Paper
Paper that is clean and dry, with no food or liquid contact, is accepted for recycling.  This includes newspaper, magazines, paper bags, copy paper, office documents, folders, envelopes, food boxes (e.g., cereal, cracker, and snack boxes) and soft-covered books.  Paper clips and staples are OK, but no spiral notebook binders or file folders with metal hangers.  Envelopes with plastic windows are OK, but no plastic or padded shipping envelopes.  No hard-covered books, unless the cover is ripped off and thrown away, and no three-ring binders.

Please note that paper plates, paper cups, napkins, paper towels or tissues are not recyclable. 

Cardboard
Cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes (e.g., from paper towel rolls), and pizza boxes are all accepted with cardboard recycling.  Cardboard boxes should be emptied and flattened with all packing materials removed.  Pizza boxes should be completely empty with no food, napkins, condiment packets, or plastic pizza savers. Small amounts of grease and cheese residual is OK.

Residual food and liquid contaminate other recyclable materials and can send an entire container of otherwise suitable recyclables to the trash.  Please empty all liquids out of containers (including ice), and rinse or wipe away all food residue. 

This includes plastic or padded shipping envelopes, bubble wrap, and wrappings around cases of water bottles or other packages).  Plastic bags and film are the most common and most problematic contaminant in recycling.  The plastic gets tangled around recycling machinery and needs to be manually cut out of the equipment, posing a risk to workers and slowing down the recycling process.  If you collect your recycling in a plastic bag, please empty all items out of the bag and into the collection bin.  Plastic bags can be returned to many grocery and retail stores for recycling, or should be put in the trash.

Styrofoam requires special handling to be recycled, and is not collected as part of our regular recycling program.  Please keep all Styrofoam out of the recycling bins.  This includes Styrofoam packaging, coolers, packing peanuts, and other types of foam.  Styrofoam should be thrown in the trash or saved for specialty collection events that occasionally occur in the community.  Did you know – if you leave Styrofoam packaging inside a box, the entire box gets trashed at the recycling facility (including the valuable cardboard).

Drink cartons like the ones used for almond milk or aseptic packaging like those used for shelf-stable broths contain multiple layers of materials, including fiber, plastic, and sometimes aluminum, and require special processing equipment to separate the layers and recover the fiber for recycling.  These paper mills are limited and not located in the Northeast region of the U.S. Our regional recycling facilities cannot cost-effectively recover and ship these cartons for recycling.  Please put all drink cartons into the trash.

If you need to shred documents for confidentiality, please consider contracting with a data shredding service.  Paper that is collected on campus already shredded cannot be recycled, because it cannot go through the sorting process at the recycling facility.  This shredded paper is disposed of.  Because shredding services manage only paper (i.e., no sorting required), the paper can be baled and recycled when shredded through the service.

Cardboard boxes should be emptied and flattened for recycling, with all packing materials removed.  Packing peanuts, Styrofoam, twist ties, etc. should be removed and disposed or recycled as appropriate.  The exceptions are craft paper used as a filling, which can be recycled on campus with mixed paper, and bubble wrap/film plastic that can be returned to collection locations at local stores.

Most paper cups have a thin plastic coating, which impacts the recycling process.  Most colored drink cups (e.g., Solo cups) are made of a low-grade plastic that does not currently have established secondary uses.  Paper and colored drink cups should be put in the trash.  Clear plastic cups are recyclable, but need to be empty and the lid and straw should be removed and put in the trash.  If the cup is heavily soiled and cannot be rinsed or wiped clean, please put it in the trash.

Composting is the natural process of decomposition of organic matter such as food scraps and yard waste to create nutrient rich material. Northeastern recognizes the importance of composting for waste management. Facilities Waste & Recycling has collaborated for over a decade with Northeastern Dining Services to fully integrate composting and waste reduction in the main dining areas on the Boston Campus 

Food waste collected on campus is delivered to local farms for land-based composting or to be processed in an anaerobic digester with other agricultural wastes. Currently, Northeastern’s food waste is delivered to the Hidden Acre Farms composting facility in Medway, MA. 

Composting services are included at all eateries on campus.

Residential pilot compost programs are available for students residing at the following locations:
  

• East Village
• West Village B
• West Village C
• West Village E

•  A pilot program is in place at Building 5 on Northeastern’s Burlington Campus, which includes collection of food waste from employee kitchen areas as well as from meetings and events that include food service. 

Composting cans are available in all buildings and dorms on the Oakland campus.

Outdoor composting bins can be found at the following locations: 

• Adams Plaza (within Rothwell Center)

All electronic assets must go through the asset disposition process. This includes computers, monitors, laptops, tablets, phones, printers, scanners, fax machines, audio/visual equipment, and lab equipment.   

Please fill out the Asset Disposition Form to begin this process. 

Once the form is submitted, the Requestor’s supervisor will receive an automated email to approve the request. After a review by Accounting and other departments, a work request will be automatically generated authorizing Facilities to collect the equipment for recycling/disposal. The Requestor does not need to submit a work request and does not need to contact OIS to coordinate the collection or arrange for data to be wiped.   

All items picked up are temporarily stored in a secure area until collected by our vendor. Our vendor wipes all data-bearing items and provides evidence to the University documenting the data destruction process. 

• Tip #1: Do you have multiple items for collection?  You can attach a list of assets to the asset disposition form, rather than listing each item individually. 

• Tip #2: Do you need a hamper to temporarily store your electronic items pending collection?  Submit a work request to Recycling to have one or more hampers delivered for temporary use.   

• Tip #3: Keyboards, mice, speakers, cords, and cables can be recycled along with larger electronics.  Please help us recycle these items by keeping them separate from trash. 

Recycling ink jet and toner cartridges is easy: 

• Remove new cartridge from the box, and place the used cartridge in the box 
• Remove and recycle any return address labels you find inside the box 
• Download the recycle ink and toner cartridges label HERE
• Attach the label to the box and tape up the box 
• Leave the box in your usual pick-up area for mail services 

You can also arrange pickup of empty ink jet and toner cartridges by submitting a Work Request.

Northeastern recycles batteries of any size. Bring your batteries to the disposal bins located on the first floor of 716 Columbus Place, or schedule a pickup by submitting a Work Request

All used lightbulbs are recycled, including those from dorms or those replaced by Building Services staff.  If you need to replace a lightbulb, please submit a Work Request. 

Textiles are banned from disposal in Massachusetts.  If you have clothing, shoes, bags, and other items that are in good condition and suitable for reuse, please bring them to a local thrift store or save them for one of the many student-led clothing swaps and collection drives that occur throughout the year.  The student group Trash2Treasure collects items at the end of every semester for reuse and recycling, and is a great option.  Alternately, you can submit a work order to have Facilities collect your clothing and other textiles (e.g., linens, drapes, tablecloths, etc.) for recycling. All types of textiles can be recycled, even if stained, ripped, missing buttons, or mismatched.  The items only need to be clean and dry. If you have Northeastern-branded items that require recycling and not reuse, the Facilities Waste and Recycling Team can help to manage those properly.

If you have a small number of paperback books, you can recycle them in the paper collection bins that are located across campus.  If you have a large number of books (more than a dozen) and/or if you have hardcover books, please submit a work request to Facilities and we will help you to manage your books.  Hardcover books need to have the covers and bindings removed before they can be recycled.  If possible, we will arrange for a donation of the books if they are suitable for that purpose.  Interested in donating books on your own?  More Than Words (242 East Berkeley Street, Boston) accepts drop-off book donations or will schedule a pickup for donors with eight or more boxes of books.

If you need to shred documents for confidentiality, please consider contracting with a data shredding service <<(Sue asked to link these to a “complete text on shredded paper”).  Paper that is collected on campus already shredded cannot be recycled, because it cannot go through the sorting process at the recycling facility.  This shredded paper is disposed.  Because shredding services manage only paper (i.e., no sorting required), the paper can be baled and recycled when shredded through the service.

—– OLD TEXT BELOW—–
Facilities does not provide shredding services or handle confidential documents for recycling.  Paper that is shredded in a personal/office shredder on campus is unable to be recycled and must be disposed.  

We encourage faculty and staff to use the University’s preferred vendor, A1 Datashred for all document shredding.  A1 Datashred offers various service including delivery of a secured (locked) bin for routine shredding or collection of boxed paper for onsite or offsite shredding from an office clean out or file purge.    

Costs for shredding services are allocated to the requesting department.  Paper collected by A1 Datashred is handled in a manner that allows it to be recycled after shredding. 

To schedule services with A1 Datashred, please contact Patrice McClintic at 978-858-0200 or by email at patrice@a1datashred.com.   

Office clean outs are a significant source of trash.  Whether it is a smaller clean out (e.g., one faculty member retiring) or a larger clean out (e.g., an entire department moving to a new office suite), it is important that materials are properly sorted for recycling and disposal.  If you are tasked with an office clean out, please submit a Work Request to Facilities and we will work with you to make sure you have the proper bins for separating trash and recycling, and are following the necessary procedures for disposition of electronics and equipment.

Hazardous waste material for laboratories is handled through the Office of Academic and Research Safety.  All hazardous waste pickup requests must be submitted through BioRAFT’s Hazardous Waste module and labels can be picked up at The Office of Academic and Research Safety (OARS).